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It’s a question every single girl has secretly pondered over and discussed at length with her gal pals. The answers used to be in between the pages of fashion and movie glossies, staring back at you on television and often times on ‘The Hottest Women’ lists published in newspapers. But all that seems completely passé now because the new road to beauty standards goes through social media.

With the ability to share, comment, react and more, it doesn’t take long for a single picture, video or live feed to become viral. And then the ideal of perfection for women. In the blink of an eye any person can go from a virtual nobody to a social media megastar. But the power of instant fame can also be equally catastrophic if abused. Even noted celebrities have often fallen victim to the social media beast, resulting in considerable damage to their fame and reputation. There are a zillion stories out there about how successful careers and lives have been obliterated with a few clicks of the keyboard. But we aren’t here to discuss doom and gloom scenarios.

We’re more interested in the light-hearted and positive side of social media that has also created celebrities out of regular folk. Especially pretty young girls who’ve gone from common or mildly famous to absolute sirens in the hearts and minds of millions. Most of them are the epitome of girl-next-door and make so many men go weak in the knees by simply being themselves. Giving single ladies out there immense hope that you don’t need to be a plastic injected glamazon to steal hearts.

Priya Prakash Varrier

Young Malayalam sensation Priya Prakash Varrier is clearly the reason why the discussion about national crushes has come back into the limelight. The video of the song Manikya Malaraya Poovi from her debut film has gone viral thanks to her flirtatious eye-brow raising act catapulting her to overnight stardom. The video has received over 4 million views on Youtube within just 24 hours of its release and garnered Priya herself over 1 million followers on Instagram. The 18-year-old commerce student who has had prior modelling experience before venturing into the world of regional South Indian cinema is humbled by all the attention and hopes to keep doing great work in the future.

Priya Prakash Varrier

Disha Patani

Her name might not sound as obscure anymore, but Disha’s story is very similar to Priya’s in that they both started their careers in South India. But Disha’s claim to fame was her commercial for Cadbury chocolates that had Indian men fall head over heels for her charms. She quickly capitalised on that fame to bag some juicy projects in Hindi movies, like M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story and Baaghi 2. This stunning lass now has millions of Twitter and Instagram followers and is definitely on her way to super stardom.

Disha Patani

Smriti Mandhana

There is something about a girl who is fantastic at sports that just appeals to everyone. Proving that adage is Smriti Mandhana, a cricketer in the national Indian womens team. Whether it’s her cute smile or her impressive domestic and international cricket career, Smriti has Indian men bowled over for sure. Many even refer to her as one of the most beautiful cricketers of all time.

Smriti Mandhana

Saima Hussain Mir

In a true case of how nearly anyone can become famous overnight, Saima Hussain Mir became everyone’s obsession after she was spotted in the background of Shahrukh Khan’s selfie. The student from Pune was hounded with marriage proposals as well as offers for modelling and acting once her identity was discovered. Saima however was not interested in any of it. She posted a beautiful sketch made by her with a statement saying she was more than just a ‘pretty face’ before deleting her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Saima Hussain Mir

Saima Hussain Mir’s Facebook Post

Manushi Chhillar

Little was known about Miss India and medical student Manushi Chillar before she shocked everyone and brought home the Miss World crown after 17 years. Suddenly everyone wanted to know everything about this dimpled beauty who was completely unknown before her historic win. Old pictures soon resurfaced that showed a very simple Indian girl going about her life as an ordinary student and these intensified the obsession with this plain Jane turned beauty queen. Manushi clearly has a different plan for her life after finding the limelight as she’s been seen hobnobbing at Bollywood events like awards shows. It remains to be seen if she will turn to movies after her tenure as Miss World ends.